Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

Summer mastitis is the real bug bear,and in this case it can occur in the dry animal, and even in heifers. I have recently been approached by a smallholder who hadn't appreciated the problem. Luckily she asked me and went to her vet immediately, or she could have had a very sick heifer. Like other ...

You are running into a dangerous age, you could Inject the cows to bring them on together, and then keep the bull away from the herd until they came on, take the calves out for the day, and put the bull in. I personally would simply keep the bull away from them and take each cow out for an hour or ...

It is precisely because Mother Nature has had thousands of years to select I am sure I am unlikely to improve greatly, and certainly not by judging them on looks. You are now stating that you are doing it on grounds of performance with which I have no quarrel. Although I have to confess that Mother...

I largely agree with Penny, although I have known the odd cow that will feed a calf right up to the time she calves again. It is possible to rear a good calf by hand, but there is no doubt the cow will do a superior job at less expense. Beef breeders quite often employ two or three cows to make a g...

Selection for what? The danger is that in selecting for today’s requirements, you may well lose something not recognised which could prove invaluable at some future date. That has already occurred in most commercial breeds. If we had not had a lot of small breeders ‘doing their own thing’ in the pa...

Amongst the reasons for sale can be shortage of fodder after the dismal summer, which in turn could imply poor condition, and inability to insist on a fair price. Another would be the owner’s demise or sickness so the cattle arrive poorly presented. Neither can be easily combated. We cannot insist ...

I agree with Clive on the size issue, and it ties in with the prevalence these days of continentals that are bigger than the original British breeds. Today’s supermarket beef is usually supplied by the Continental crosses or pure, and is certainly inferior to years ago when it was provided by the o...

Thank you for all the nice compliments, but they should go to the Dexter. I could only bring out what is there. My aim has always been to work back to the animal that evolved in the wild to make the most of scarce resources, if it then receives the minimum of pampering by man it will obviously prod...